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Tuesday, 7 August 2007

Rhubarb - betrayed or betrayer?

Okay, I admit it, B and I have become a little obsessed by the Zeddy and Rhubarb / Zeddy and Parsnip children's bedlinen characters from Mamas and Papas I wrote about last week.

I have done a (very) minimal amount of research about Zeddy, Rhubarb AND Parsnip.

Currently, the in-store sales line appears to be Zeddy and Parsnip-oriented. However, there are also a lot of Zeddy and Rhubarb things around that are available remaindered or second hand.

B and I are worried. We have spent a considerable amount of time mulling over the question 'What happened to Rhubarb?'.

Did Zeddy dump him when a successful show-biz partnership with Parsnip loomed on the horizon? Or did Zeddy put up with years of Rhubarb doing bad cocaine in dressing rooms on the baby-shower circuit and one day had finally had enough? Is that a large Camberwell Carrot that Rhubarb is clutching on the front of some of those baby sleeping bags?

Is Rhubarb trying desperately to launch a solo career after being callously ditched by Zeddy after years of commitment, once they had got half way to success? Struggling rather like Ernie Wise without Eric Morecombe?

Alternatively, has he sunk to the depths of depravity in a sea-side boarding house in some squalid East Coast resort, eroding his nasal passages and trying to make ends meet by hanging out outside National Childbirth Trust Sales?

I fear for Rhubarb - whatever has happened to him cannot be good.

And Parsnip, where does Parsnip fit in? Is he genuinely making Zeddy happy in these, the Post-Rhubarb Years? Or is Parsnip being exploited by an avaricious Zeddy, who is only focused on getting to the top of the show-biz pile? Will he be cast aside like a used tissue if Zeddy ever sees a chance to make it on his own?

Personally, I have my doubts about Zeddy. But B comes down more firmly on the side of Rhubarb-as-bad-guy. This lack of trust makes it very difficult to invest emotionally in their range of nursery linen, which is probably a good thing, given it's cost.